Zillion Dollar Thinking “Cut and Paste”

Summer 2011

Your ZDT author, as a member/contributor of several diverse professional groups has written several hundred pages of blogs-articles-comments. Here are a few of the most popular posts. Collectively, these have received hundreds to thousands of viewers/readers. We are re-posting these in full or in part to highlight the central message that, hopefully, will be valuable to you and your circle.

We intend to make this a quarterly digest based on reader response and commentary…as always, you decide.

Posting:
Sales Agent or Change Agent?

Which will it be? If you have been in the sales business 6 months or 25 years, the future is certain to have landmines for you and your clientele. You will need to be on offense and defense. Surveillance, intelligence and strategy are your mantras. Leadership as a given. Communication is vital. Sounds like a military position…consider this:

When our military is in a situation of protecting our interest, are they risking their lives for themselves or for a higher cause? A miscalculation would not be a simple mathematical error as with a financial projection. A bad decision could cost them their life. It’s a serious proposition. Do we feel the same weight of responsibility in working with our clients and other professionals?

Question: When you look ahead, do you feel any higher sense of accountability, or will it be business as usual? Will you continue as a sales agent, or will you become a change agent?

How various contributors view change agents

“Being a change agent is as more about identity and character than it is about definitions.”

“A change agent looks as much to the future, as they do the present.” To a certain extent, a change agent is dissatisfied with what they see around them, in favor of a much better vision of the future.

“A change agent is fueled by passion, inspires passion in others and realizes that it will require hard work.” It takes a lot of energy and purpose.

“A change agent has a strong ability to self-motivate.” The change agent needs to find it within themselves to get up every day and go to work and risk being misunderstood and not appreciated, knowing that the real validation may be far in the future and could even be claimed by someone else.

“A change agent serves people.” This kind of change is about people. If you change everything but the people, you will be ineffective as a change agent. Change will really "stick" when people buy-in. In all, change is part sales, part counseling and part encouragement. It's all about the care and feeding of people.

And further, from the HBR authors:

As a change agent, do you see opportunities the competition doesn't see?

The most successful companies don't just out-compete their rivals. They redefine the terms of competition by creating unique ideas in a world of “me-too” thinking.

Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas?

Ideas that are routine in one industry can be revolutionary when they move their template to another industry.

Are you the most of anything?

You can't be "pretty good" at everything anymore. You need to be the most of something: e.g. the most affordable, the most accessible, the most elegant, the most colorful, or the most transparent.

Can your customers live without you?

One of the make-or-break challenges for change agents is to become irreplaceable in the eyes of their customers.

Are you consistent in your commitment to be a change agent?

The problem with many organizations is that all they do is change. They lurch from one consulting firm to the next, from the most recent management fad to the newest. Your priorities and practices need to stay consistent in good times and bad to build trust.

Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?

In a world that never stops transforming, change agents can never stop learning. How do you push yourself as an individual to keep growing and evolving, so that your audiences will do the same?

Credits and full article:

HBR Contributor: William C. Taylor is cofounder of Fast Company magazine.

http://blogs.hbr.org/taylor/2009/06/the_10_questions_every_change.html

Posting:
How Rainmakers Make Rain

Definition of Rainmaker: An employee, producer or entrepreneur who creates a remarkable amount of new business for a company or institution. This term is often used in the context of the financial services, marketing/ advertising, and various other industries.

The decision to become a rainmaker is one of choice and not made by accident. Today, that decision can be timely and important given the climate of the economy and the hungry need of business for new sales. The list could be long as to why one would want to (or not) consider this road.

Clearly, the rewards outnumber the liabilities, but rainmakers know nothing in life is achieved without sacrifice [a price] to achieve extraordinary results.

Simply put, rainmakers generally have the following four traits in common.

1. They identify the problems. That means the buyer’s problems, the market’s problems, the economic climate problems, the product and service problems, the competition’s problems…in all; they are keenly sensitive and driven by the need of the problems and what it will take to solve them (even their own).

2. They are world class examples of commitment. In every sense of the word, they are committed to a solid work ethic, committed to integrity, committed to service, committed to excellence, committed to deliver results (even when excuses are common). In all, they are committed to “whatever it takes.”

3. They sell solutions. Products, services, plans, guides, webinars, graphics, books, magazines, mailings, digital apps…etc. are not stand alone objects. They are solutions to a problem. The rainmaker knows how to match the right solution to fit the correctly identified problem (due diligence and suitability). It is truly that simple, but how many really qualify for this rare membership?

4. They are driven into action. They realize that all the fantasies of success in this or any other field will not happen without specific, dedicated and focused action. They know the difference between the activity of the clown with the spinning plates versus closing the deal, collecting the money and leveraging that success to the next one.

In this economy, rainmakers are in hot demand. Their results are their resume.

Additional “Zillion Dollar Thoughts” of Rainmakers:

- They know that it universally costs $420 to make a selling call. They know how many attempts (based on their product/service costs) that will create profitability.
- They dollarize everything.
- They understand the maxim of “penny wise and pound foolish.”
- They are married to a model (a transferable, repeatable and pre-planned format or system).

Posting:
Are You in a Marketing War?

It would seem that we are quoting the obvious, but today we can’t take anything for granted. We can look at various sectors of our government, industrial, social and religious organizations to find that many of these are not aware of or acknowledge that they are in a war for their very existence.

In Marketing Warfare, Al Ries and Jack Trout (marketing experts) argue that marketing is war and that the marketing concept’s customer-oriented philosophy is inadequate. Rather, firms would do better by becoming competitor-oriented. If the key to success were to introduce products closest to those wanted by customers, then the market leader simply would be the firm that performed the best market research. Clearly, much more is required.

There is much that marketers can learn from military strategy. Ries and Trout tell the story of several famous battles in history that illustrate lessons of warfare. These battles range from Marathon in 490 B.C. when the Greeks used the phalanx to defeat the more numerous Persian invaders, to the Normandy invasion of the Second World War.

The lessons from these famous battles illustrate the strategies of planning, maneuvering, and overpowering the opposing side. These principles are relevant not only to warfare, but also to marketing.

Considering this concept, there are valuable lessons, tactics and decisions that can help business owners weather the economic battlefield they are now facing.

What do many great leaders do when they realize they are going to war, or already in one? First, they determine to fight or flight. Then, if they fight, they have to make some hard decisions. Here are just a few strategic considerations and determinations:

Decide who will be the leader
(Or leaders)

Identify the enemy (or target)
(Have you correctly identified who, what and where they are)

Before you make the commitment…be sure you have counted the cost
(“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it”)

Decide if you will you go it alone or build a team (or an army)
(“There is wisdom in many counselors”)

Distinguish that the objective is either a game or a war
(One is for sport…the other is for keeps)

Consider if you will you seek guidance and/or help
(“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble”)

Establish and communicate written strategic plans (including the SWOT exam)
(The emphasis here is “strategic [offense-defense]” with the goal to win)

Include: Responsibilities-Accountabilities-Actions-Contingencies

In summary, (back to Ries and Trout) they believe in having relatively few people involved in the strategic process. They believe the organization needs a strong marketing “general” to formulate the strategy from the tactical realities. An effective marketing general should have the following characteristics:

Flexibility: To adjust the strategy to the situation
Courage: To make a decision and stand by it
Boldness: To act without hesitation when the time is right
Know the facts: In order to formulate strategy from the ground up
Know the rules: But internalizing them so they can be forgotten

ZDT Question: Is it better to know you are in a war, and plan to win, or to take an “a-kicking” and never realize you were ever in one?

Until next quarter…